Joy Reid: Trump’s Order Is a Muslim Ban That Exempts Countries Where Trump Does Business

On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” anchor Joy Reid argued President Trump’s executive order on immigration and travel restrictions is both a Muslim ban and has the “glaring point” that “a lot of big countries that have histories of actually sending some of their citizens to commit terrorism against Americans, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, they’re not on the list. And it includes some countries where Donald Trump does business.”

At the beginning of the 10 am hour, Reid characterized the order as a “ban on refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.” She then described it as “basically this ban on Muslim migration.”

During a panel discussion that took place at the top of 11 am hour, University of Minnesota Law Professor Painter stated, “I have students who can’t fly home to visit their families. Their families can’t visit them here. And, I asked why. And the only explanation I can give is their country’s too poor to have a Trump hotel. I mean, there is no rational basis for this executive order. It was premised on religious discrimination.”

Reid added, “[T]here is a very glaring point here, which is that none of the seven countries that were barred from having their migrants come to the United States are places where Donald Trump does business, but a lot of big countries that have histories of actually sending some of their citizens to commit terrorism against Americans, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, they’re not on the list. And it includes some countries where Donald Trump does business.”

Huffington Post Senior Justice Reporter Ryan J. Reilly pointed to an argument from a defender of former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates that in refusing to defend the executive order, she made a consideration similar to what judges ruled with North Carolina’s voter ID law, which wasn’t necessarily discriminatory on its face, but whose purpose and the language of people behind it were discriminatory.

Later on, Reid asked Painter, “[Y]ou do have, as a part of this executive order, the exclusion of countries where Donald Trump does business. We come right back again to this Emoluments Clause problem. Could that order be made unlawful, including by the fact that it excluded countries where the president has a pecuniary interest?”

Painter responded, “Absolutely. And this order has no rational basis whatsoever, other than a veiled attempt to discriminate against Muslims, and also discriminate against those countries where the president does not do business.”